The present invention relates generally to sheet form medical implant devices, and in particular aspects to thin implant sheets that can be used for bone graft containment and/or for guided tissue regeneration.
As further background, the regeneration of injured or defective animal or human bone presents unique challenges. For these purposes is it known to implant an amount of additional bone, such as autograft or allograft bone, into a bone defect or other site at which new bone growth is desired. Such bone grafting procedures are among the most common surgical grafting procedures performed today.
As a substitute or addition to actual bone grafts, various bone graft substitutes have been suggested or used to treat defects in the mammalian skeletal system. For example, porous ceramic bone graft substitutes are used to provide a three-dimensional structural framework to conduct bone growth.
Grafting with bone or bone substitutes can present challenges in generating bone in the desired implant region. In many common grafting sites, pressure from the adjacent musculature tends to dislocate or otherwise impede the performance of bone graft material. Efforts have thus been made to prepare actual or substitute bone graft materials that effectively remain at the original implant location and resist the pressures generated by adjacent soft tissues, or to develop barrier devices that minimize or eliminate the affects of the soft tissue on the generation of bone.
Despite efforts in these areas, needs remain for improved or alternative devices and methods for facilitating the generation of tissue at desired sites and especially for regenerating bone at skeletal defect sites. Advantageous such devices would not only assist in retaining the graft material at the implant site, but also have the potential for contributing to tissue development in the grafted region.